Burton is a truly fascinating character: a master of many languages, he became famous after disguising himself as a Moslem and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Truly a creation of his times, Burton was at once a poet, pederast, polyglot, nymphomaniac, popular hero and mystic. His trip into Africa with Captain Speke became a cause celebre as the pair rapidly fell out of favour with each other (indeed Burton does not mention Speke by name throughout his narrative - merely calling him ‘my travelling companion‘), resulting in acrimonious accusations and counteraccusations. In an effort to settle the matter, the pair were to lecture in Bath but, before that could happen, Speke died in mysterious circumstances, being fatally shot while out hunting. Modern consensus is that Speke accidentally shot himself, but the conspiracy theories surrounding these events made Burton infamous.

His actual travelogue is, to my mind, somewhat disappointing. His distaste for anyone of colour is obvious as page after page contains tirades against the interior Africans, coastal Africans, Indians, Arabs and so forth. Indeed almost the only person he does have a good word for was the late Governor of Zanzibar, Lieutenant Colonel Hamerton. The book chronicles his almost two year trek into and back from the African heartland, beset upon every side by disease, delay and the necessary bribery and corruption that followed every African exploration.

It shows how much the world has changed in the last 150 years that the journey, taking 18 months hard travelling and at the cost of many lives, could now be leisurely done by car in about 5 days. It is difficult for a modern reader to understand the travails of the journey, yet Burton does his best to outline the constant difficulties and calamities that befell the expedition. Ultimately, however, the book is unsatisfactory because Speke’s discovery of the source of the Nile was done in Burton’s absence and Burton, due to his conflict of interest, barely mentions Speke’s great discovery. In fact Burton was correct to declare that Speke was premature in saying that he had found the source of the Nile, and that it was all guesswork. The fact that the guesswork later proved to be correct must have riled Burton immensely, having had his thunder stolen. (But it is Burton, not Speke, that is remembered nowadays).

Interestingly, his trip at the time seemed to have found disfavour from the British Government - the Folio Edition having an appendix containing correspondence between Burton and the British Government, showing their displeasure at both his attitude to East Africa (he was of the opinion that it should, basically, be conquered) and of his attitude and treatment towards those he employed, the unpaid bills of which the British taxpayer had to foot.

As a snapshot of time the book is invaluable - it is the best example of travel writing in the age of exploration, but one must always remember to read between the lines, Burton was nothing if not self serving and this must be born in mind when reading The Source of the Nile.